Prof. Dr H.T.P.M. (Hans) van den Hurk Professor of European Corporate Income Taxes at Maastricht University

Prof. Van den Hurk will be chairman and will give us an update about arbitration and the new initiatives developed by OECD and UN.

13.10-13.50 Arbitration form a Dutch perspective

Drs. J.T. (Hans) van Egdom,Hans van Egdom works for the Ministry of Finance and has a lot of experience with mutual agreement procedures (including APA’s).

Van Egdom wants to share his experiences and will reflect on possible ways for a more efficient process.

13.50-14.30 Arbitration from a German perspective

Prof. Dr R.G. (Rainer) Prokisch, Professor of International Tax Law at Maastricht University

Prof. Prokisch will discuss arbitration from a German law perspective. Conflict resolution has become more significant in international tax law and has also received more international attention. The EU and the OECD have tried to determine standards for mutual agreement and arbitration procedures. The question arises whether Germany meets those standards currently and what Germany should do to improve conflict resolution procedures.

Former Competent Authority in MAP procedures of the Netherlands Ministry of Finance, and former consultant of the OECD and the UN

The OECD and UN model income tax conventions provide only for the principle of arbitration. The recently concluded BEPS Multilateral Instrument, however, also sets elaborate rules for the implementation of arbitration. As a result, a substantial increase of the so far small number of arbitrations may be anticipated over the next years. Likewise, arbitration institutes may demand facilitation, both authorities and taxpayers may require increased assistance by arbitration lawyers, and more academic input may be needed.

The role of the taxpayer in Mutual Agreement Procedures in general has been much discussed in tax literature and the views are not unanimous. This intervention aims at providing a practical insight into the matter, focusing on the foreseeable growing importance of arbitration, its advisability for companies, and the direct participation of such companies and their advisers in the proceedings

16.20-17.00 MAP/EU Arbitrage

C.J.E.A (Eduard) Sporken, LL.M., Director, KPMG Meijburg & Co

Sporken will share his transfer pricing experiences with regard to EU arbitration in relation to Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and the UK and his Mutual Agreement Proceudure experience in relation to Brazil, China, Russia and Kazakhstan.